FORT WORTH (April 2, 2009) – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the Lone Star state this weekend for the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The event is the seventh of 36 on the Sprint Cup Series’ regular-season schedule. Seven Dodge Chargers are guaranteed spots in a field of 43 for Sunday’s race. Dodge has two wins at TMS including Kasey Kahne’s victory at the spring event in 2006.

AJ Allmendinger (No. 44 Super 8 Dodge Charger) has used consistency to work his way up to 15th in the Cup driver point standings. His ninth-place showing last weekend in Martinsville moves the Richard Petty Motorsports driver within 35 points of the coveted top 12. The top 12 drivers in the point standings after the first 26 races will compete for the Sprint Cup in the final 10 events of the season.

“I’m pretty pumped about Texas,” said Allmendinger. “We ran real well at Atlanta before that yellow (flag) screwed up everyone. If our No. 44 is as good at Texas as it was in Atlanta, then Texas could be a fun afternoon. The Petty team is getting better and better at the 1.5-mile tracks.”

If there’s anyone who understands the excitement of Allmendinger, it’s his veteran crew chief Sammy Johns who has watched his playful 28 year-old driver race his way to a top-five and two top-10 finishes in the first six Cup events.

“AJ’s got a great feel for the race car,” Johns said. “What he tells you, you can adjust something and he goes out and goes faster with it. I feel like his feel for the car and what the four tires are doing is real good and that’s key to the crew chief getting that proper information back and not have to second guess (the driver). When he tells you what he needs, you can give it to him and he’ll go out there and go faster with it.”

Other Notes:
* *******Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) has scored four top-15 finishes in six races in 2009. After six races in 2008, Busch was third in the point standings, 132 behind the leader.
* *******Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) has collected five wins and 19 top-10 finishes (37 percent) on 1.5-mile tracks during his Sprint Cup career which began in 2004. Kahne started from the pole and won the 2006 spring event at TMS.
* *******David Stremme (No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) has one top-10 in four career starts at TMS.
* *******Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Best Buy Dodge Charger) has started from the front row twice in 14 career starts at TMS. Sadler was the event winner in 2004 while driving for Yates Racing.